The Empire State Building announces its second-floor expansion that begins the visitors’ journey to the one-of-a-kind views from the 86th Floor Observatory Experience. This immersive exhibit walks guests down a historic memory lane of the iconic building. From the building site to the decades of being a pop culture icon, the exhibit will allow guests to experience the building’s history hands-on. Animax Designs had the privilege to work on a portion of the project as part of the Kubik Maltbie team to recreate an iconic scene from a classic American film.

This lead character was soon dubbed as the 8th Wonder of the World and Animax Designs ensured that their craftmanship would live up to this name. Guests will experience an office-like atmosphere with planes flying outside the digitally-imposed windows as enormous ape hands pierce through the building’s walls. This portion of the Observatory Experience gives guests a photo opportunity with the hands of one of the Empire State Building’s most iconic characters to ever climb its exterior. The experience is completed by sound and practical effects that make this a photo-op guests won’t forget.

Here is a behind-the-scenes peek into the making of this extraordinary project.